Eagles Lose Third Straight Division Game, Fall to New York Giants

By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

The Eagles entered the Meadowlands, desperate for a division win, but they were unable to overcome four touchdown passes from Eli Manning and lost 28-23, handing them their third-straight division loss and dropping their overall record to 4-4. 

Scoring Summary

  1 2 3 4 T
Eagles  3 7 7 6 23
Giants 14  7 7 0 28

 The Giants capitalized on a pair of Carson Wentz interceptions to build an early 14-0 lead. After Wentz's first interception, Manning hit Odell Beckham Jr. on a quick slant for 26 yards and a touchdown. The second TD came on a pass from Manning to Roger Lewis, who found himself wide open in the end zone after Jaylen Watkins and Leodis McKelvin ran into each other in coverage.

The Birds responded on the ensuing drive, however, after a pair of passes to Trey Burton put the Eagles in Giants territory and Bryce Treggs' first career reception put them in field goal range. The drive stalled after Wentz lost yards on a quarterback keeper, but Caleb Sturgis knocked home a chip shot to put the Eagles on the board. 

Two drives later, the Eagles cut into the lead even further after a 58-yard completion to Treggs set up an eight-yard touchdown run by Ryan Mathews. But the Giants were quick to respond as they drove 86 yards on the ensuing drive, ending it with a one-yard touchdown pass to Beckham. 

The two teams traded punts and the Eagles turned the ball over on downs and had a field goal blocked before the end of the first half.

Doug Pederson's squad opened up the second half with a 6-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 12-yard completion to Trey Burton and a 17-yard run by Darren Sproles before Kenjon Barner punched it in from three yards out to cut the Giants lead to four.

Once again, the Giants scored seven points of their own. A 32-yard touchdown pass from Manning to rookie receiver Sterling Shepard capped off the 10-play drive and gave New York an 11-point lead that would stand until a field goal by Sturgis made it a one-possession game.

On the Giants next drive, Nolan Carroll wrestled a ball away from Beckham for an interception, but the Eagles were held to just eight yards on their next drive and were forced to punt.

Sturgis split the uprights for his third field goal of the game with less than four minutes to go after a 25-yard pass from Wentz to Jordan Matthews converted a fourth-and-nine from midfield. 

The Giants attempted to run out the clock, but following the two-minute warning, Manning attempted a pass on third-and-four, but it was tipped and picked off by Jordan Hicks, giving the Eagles a short field for their final drive.

On the first play, Wentz hit Nelson Agholor for 17 yards, but threw a pair of incompletions on the next two plays and was pressured on a screen pass attempt on third-and-10. On fourth down, the Eagles drew up a fade to Matthews into the end zone, but the wide receiver looked over the wrong shoulder and the ball fell to the turf, ending the Eagles' comeback attempt.

Team Leaders

Passing

Philadelphia Eagles (4-4) New York Giants (5-3)
Carson Wentz  27-47, 364 YD, 2 INT, 64.5 RTG  Eli Manning  22-36, 257 YD, 4 TD, 2 INT, 96.6 RTG

Rushing

Philadelphia Eagles (4-4) New York Giants (5-3)
Darren Sproles 13 Att, 57 YD Paul Perkins 11 Att, 32 YD
Wendell Smallwood 2 Att, 25 YD Rashad Jennings 11 Att, 26 YD
Ryan Mathews 5 Att, 15 YD Eli Manning 2 Att, -4 YD

Receiving

Philadelphia Eagles (4-4) New York Giants (5-3)
Zach Ertz 8 Rec, 97 YD Sterling Shepard 3 Rec, 50 YD, TD
Jordan Matthews 6 Rec, 88 YD Odell Beckham Jr. 4 Rec, 46 YD, 2 TD
Bryce Treggs 2 Rec, 69 YD Victor Cruz 1 Rec, 46 YD

Team Stats

  Eagles Giants
1st Downs  21 16 
Total Plays  74 61 
Total Yards  443 302 
Passing Yards  347 248 
Rushing Yards  96 54 
Red Zone (Made-Att)  2-6 1-1 
Penalties  4-43 5-30 
Turnovers  2
Time of Possession  32:40 27:20 

What's Next

The Eagles return to the field next Sunday afternoon as they face the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

 
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